Exclusive Interview: Man speaks out about officer-involved shooting

A man who claims to be involved Tuesday night's shooting outside of Northwest Texas Hospital has come forward.

In NewsChannel 10's exclusive interview, the man asked to be called Mr. Griffin, to help protect his identity.

When we spoke Thursday afternoon, he told us his side of the story.

"We went to the hospital to get some treatment. They denied me treatment so we decided to leave," Griffin said. "When we left, the security guards came after us and eventually a cop jumped in front of our car," he added.

Mr. Griffin says he was the passenger who was struck in the leg, in the car now part of an officer involved shooting investigation.

"The bullet went in to my left leg, hit my bone, and came out the other side on my femur" he told us.

On Wednesday, we spoke with Amarillo Police about the incident. Lt. Erick Bohannon, with the Special Crimes Unit told us two police officers were called to the hospital for a separate incident. But, upon arivaarrival hospital staff asked for help dealing with Mr. Griffin, who was leaving the hospital and getting into a car.

"They were the first one's they found and said 'hey that guy is leaving and we need him to stay here,' Lt. Bohannon said about the officers arriving on scene.

As they approached the vehicle, police say the officer, who is not being identified at this time, ordered the female driver to stop the car.

"She revved the engine of the vehicle, went straight at the officer. He drew his weapon and fired," Lt. Bohannon said.

But Mr. Griffin claims things happened differently.

"I told my wife, when they jumped in front of the car, I said, just keep your foot on the break and the gas and go forward slowly and that's what she did," he told us.

Because it's an open investigation, Lt. Bohannon can not comment on specifics from the incident. But, he did tell us, because it's an officer involved shooting, strict protocols must be followed within the department.

"The officer was placed on standard three day administrative leave which is just standard procedure," he said.

Even so, Mr. Griffin says he just want's justice.

"I just want to get everything I lost back. My car, I am going to have to repair all of that. It's over $2,000 worth of damage. My pain and suffering for being in jail. And just to get my wife out of jail to get her back here with me," Griffin said.

His wife, and the accused driver of the car, 25 year old Leighann Nicole Griffin remains behind bars, on a charge of aggravated assault against a peace officer.

Amarillo Special Crimes tells us they are still gathering all of the necessary and proper evidence they need to continue their investigation.

Life can be greatly disrupted when a family member is hospitalized, especially when that member is a child. That's where a local organization steps in to assist as we learn in this edition of Good News with Doppler Dave.

Life can be greatly disrupted when a family member is hospitalized, especially when that member is a child. That's where a local organization steps in to assist as we learn in this edition of Good News with Doppler Dave.